


A 'Ben'ificial Chance

by The_Fiction_Portal



Category: Original Work
Genre: Dating, Eventual Romance, F/M, Librarians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-26
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-25 19:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3821896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fiction_Portal/pseuds/The_Fiction_Portal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weeks after the crazy date she had Vanessa, an introverted book lover, meets Ben, the attractive Art professor, again while at the library. After being reminded how nice and attractive he appears she ponders on rather or not she should take up his offer to meet up in an attempt to actually get to know each other, have a real, planned, date. Will she take a chance on him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Could not ignore the characters from Date with a Stranger any longer. Like I saw so much possibilities for this and so I have two stories up. So you can say Date with a Stranger is like the prologue.

“Ugh, got another customer complaining about fees” Martha, a fellow coworker says as she walks into the backroom where I was currently working.

I took my organization of the books seriously. I had to scan each book back into the system as returned so the previous reader won’t get fines. I had ignore the noise outside and it was only until Martha explained what was going on I stopped. One  thing that annoyed me about being in the library is that people complaining about their fees.

“They should be more responsible.  One doesn't simply ‘forget’ to pay bills, so they shouldn’t forget to return books. I take it they ran a pretty hefty fine or they wouldn’t be complaining” I said to Martha.

The older woman nods, “He was way overdue, when he tried to check out new items and since he claim to have lost the previous items…” Martha didn’t have to say more. They had to charge according the value of those items in addition to the fees of it being overdue.

“Who’s handling it?” I asked her, breaking eye contact in favor of scanning the items I picked up from the drop box.

“Devin, has it.” Martha answered.

Devin was a reliable guy who was pretty patient with people, I’m sure he had things under control. “Alright, glad it was him and not Joy” Joy was a sweet older lady who would come part time. I felt so bad if she got into trouble, you’d think at a quiet place like the library there wouldn’t be any issues, but people are people.

When I finished cataloging I noticed some were scheduled to someone else on hold. “Martha, these are placed on hold and are ready to be given to the next person. Mind doing that while I put these other books back on the shelf ?” I asked.

“Sure thing.”

I placed each book carefully on the cart according to section that way I’d had to visit each section once. I had to crouch low to get to the bottom shelves or stretch really high to put books back where they belonged. I was pretty short and I took some pride in trying to do things myself without the step stool.

“Ugh, this does not belong here.” Another pet peeve about working at the library, people just sticking books in places where it doesn’t belong. At least put it in the right section, it makes it hard to locate books when it gets requested. Looking at the tags I realized it belonged in the mystery section so I decided to take it off the shelf and onto my cart so I can place it into its proper home.

As I continued to place the returned books away I continued to find misplaced books and I’d place them onto my cart. 

“Really? Why is a graphic novel in the sci-fi section?” I shook my head and scooped it up as well. I went to each place to return the misfits back to their proper homes. I made my way to the mystery section and after properly looking at the numbers on the sticker I realized it was higher on the shelf. However as high as I stretched I was still shy of sliding the book into place.

_Damn, I can’t reach it._

“Can I help you with that?” I jumped at the sudden voice, in my struggle I did’t even look to see if anyone was nearby. I turned to see black curly hair, green eyes framed by black glasses, his square jaw was peppered in bristles. I realized who this man was.

“Ben?!” I exclaimed but luckily I instinctively did use a library appropriate voice. His eyes widen, perhaps he recognized me, I had hoped so.

“Ness?”

He smiled and there were those dimples again. I felt my stomach flip at the sight, he was still very much attractive.

“How have you been? I’ve been wondering about you since I didn’t hear from you.” His tone was light his dimples were showing.

Even though he meant it casually I realized even though I recorded his number on my phone I never actually had the guts to contact him. It’s been several weeks since that incident at the restaurant, several weeks since I found the receipt giving me his contact information.

 “I’ve been well, just working” I said to him.

“Oh? You work at a library, you like books then?” he asked. Was he interested?

“I love books. I enjoy reading and organizing and even recommending books. I even help with certain events that go on in the library. I take it you like books or you wouldn’t be here? Or are you looking for art reference books?” I responded to his question. I could go on and on about books all day but I had to stop myself.

“Oh, art reference books are nice. But I like to read, particularly mystery novels” he then takes the book that was in my hand to read the title, proceeds to flip the book open to read the summary. 

“Oh, this one is pretty interesting. I’ll take this, if you don’t mind” he said and I couldn’t help but nod.

“That’s fine with me.”

“Great, I’ll let you get back to work then Ness” he said and turning to leave. He then pauses.

“Say, maybe this weekend we can spend some time together. I kind of regret only talking about myself, like I should have known where you worked. But this was a nice surprise, do you have my number? We can coordinate a time.” 

I can’t believe it, he was inviting me out. In person? Was he serious? I just thought he felt obligated because I helped him the last time.

“Oh, obviously it’s your call. Don’t feel pressured.” His ears were red like it was before, he shifted from one foot to another. Could it be he was nervous?

_Nah, who’d be nervous from talking to me?_

“It’s okay. I’ll contact you after work.”

He seemed to relax after I said yes. And I realized I’ve been gone for a while. After telling Ben goodbye I left him in the mystery section.

 

* * *

 

 

I was waiting around for people to check out while some of my fellow coworkers were either out helping the computer section or doing some of the workshops that were taking place.

“I’ve come to check out.” Sure enough it was Ben, he had a nice stack of books.

“I didn’t think professors have time to read” I said lightly as I scan each book.

“I’m on spring break soon, which means I’ll be reading” he said sounding all too happy. I felt the same when my day is done.”

"Spring break, sounds pretty nice. Though for us we get bombarded during that time. Kids rushing to get their reports done and such." I remarked. 

He gave a light laugh, “Guess professors and teachers like me don’t make things easy during the holiday months,” he says as I scan each book.

When I finished I handed him his pile back to him. I printed a receipt with the due date. 

“Alright, have a good day. I’ll be sure to contact you soon.” This time I wouldn’t hold back. He flashed those dimples at me again and it did not help my wild stomach. 

“It’s a promise, have a good day.” 

No sooner than Ben left I was pulled to the side by none other than the only people around my age working here, a part timer Emily and Randal, a fellow full timer. Both of them have me the look. 

“Who was that?” They both managed to chime together in a curious whisper.

"It’s just a guy I met a while ago. Sorta ran into him for the first time in a while in the library. No big deal." I answered casually, slowly. If I showed signs of being flustered they would make things more into what it was. 

“‘Some guy’, looked like he was so into you. No guy smiles that much unless they like a girl.” Emily remarked. 

“If he’s why you took a year putting those books away then I don’t blame you.” Randal throws in his own comment. 

“Down boy, you have George” I teased lightly. 

“There’s no harm in looking. And he sure was an eyeful.” 

“Sure was” Emily piped up. 

These two were something else. I’m glad I never got the chance to introduce them to Alisha and the three of them would probably plot to hook me up together. But the idea of them talking him up made me feel warm. 

“You like him. What’s his name?” Emily said catching on before I had time to recover.

As we worked I gave them the basic summary. I excluded the pretend to be girlfriend part of course. 

“Van, you better call that boy back” Randal said giving me a look of pure disapproval after I told him how the night ended with him giving his number.

"Yeah, he’s hot. If I haven’t got Chris at home I’d be all over that opportunity" Emily remarks.

By the time it closed I was a bit tired and hungry. All I can think about was my left over spaghetti in the fridge. Getting out of there and into my car to go home was my only concern.

When I got home I quickly took my leftovers out the fridge followed by me walking into my room. Arms stretched I fell into the bed, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as the soft bed supported my back and the comforter caressed me so softly I could fall asleep with my clothes on. 

With great difficulty I rolled off the bed to take a shower, stripping off my skirt and blouse was like taking the weight of the day off me. The hot water did magic on me, now that I was in it I just felt like standing under the constant hot water all night. 

“Ugh, let me get out” I told myself, thinking if I told myself this out loud I’d be more inclined to do it. When I finally got out I changed into some loose fitting pajama pants and a t shirt. If it wasn’t for my growling stomach I really would feel like going to bed. 

By the time I finished heating everything up I got a phone call. I looked to see it was from Alisha. I sit down at the table to eat as I answer it. 

“Hey, Lisha.” I say as I got a fork full of food. 

“Hey, Nessa. How’s your day been?" She asked as I took a sip of lemonade. 

"Nothing special. Dealt with more people complaining about their fees than usual." There wasn’t anything special about work, I loved books so I liked where I worked. It’s a quiet place and unless you help with events or clubs it’s a pretty basic experience. 

"Yeah, work is work but I just feel bad you have nothing special after work. I have Dante to look forward to when I get home." I rolled my eyes at her remark.

"I don’t need a guy to be happy. I’m happy with the me I am. Though I’m very happy for you and Dante" I told her. Yes finding a nice guy to date would be nice but I don’t think I need it as bad as she thinks. 

“When are you going to call that nice guy back? He did that thing where he left his number and everything. You are alone because you don’t let people in but like a select few.” I could practically feel her frowning up.

But then it hit me. I realized something special had happened today. I smacked my forehead. I felt so bad how could I forget. 

“I just remembered I ran into Ben at the library today. He was getting books to read, he’ll have his spring break soon” I told her.

"Oh. My. God. You can’t say that wasn’t fate. Please text that guy!" As I knew she would, she freaks out.

"Can I tell you what happened first? How do you know he wasn’t a jerk to me when he saw me?" I asked her. 

 “Was he a jerk?” She asked me. I sighed, she was doing the questioning again.

"He was pretty nice. He seemed to be pretty eager to chat with me" I answered honestly as I recalled his face. At least I thought he seemed happy, he’s probably really mad I never contacted him.

"I see. So what is it about him you don’t like again?" She asked me and I just ate my spaghetti to keep my mouth occupied. 

_It’s not that I don’t like him. He’s really nice and he seems to be as interested in books as I am._

“So I take that it’s nothing then right. Well at the end of the day it’s your call. ” she was understanding, she may try to convince me but she knew it would always be my call. She did the conversation a favor and switched topics soon afterwards. By the time we walked about work and other random things I had already made my decision. 

“You know what… I decided I’ll give him a chance. To see where it goes. It couldn’t hurt right?” I flinched, holding the phone away from my ear when I heard her squeal.

"I’m so excited for you. Who knows, he could be ‘the one’" she said eagerly.

"Yeah, who knows?" 

 _Or it can be another failure._  

The memory of my dating attempts in college always resulted in the person I was dating to dump me, usually for someone else. Each tragic end took some time to gain my confidence back. I am pretty happy with myself now, I’d really hate for a tragic ending to ruin it again. 

Soon after our conversation ended. I charged my phone while I cleaned up the kitchen. And grabbed me a bowl of ice cream, for whatever reason I always needed something sweet after a meal. When I settled down on my couch with my ice cream, I turned the tv on in an attempt to find something to watch. 

I settled on an old episode of Bones. I really loved how the brilliant anthropologist helped solved crime while looking at only the skeletons of victims. As I got comfortable I pulled out my phone, I was fine until I went to my contacts. My stomach felt like it was doing tricks, I felt warm even with my ice cold treat.

"Just do it and get it over with. If he changes his mind so be it, it wasn’t meant to happen." It took a bit of self motivation before I finally opened a new text message. I was trying to think of how to casually send a message. 

_Hey, Ben. How have you been since leaving the library? Just got finished eating dinner.  
\- Ness _

I finished my bowl and washed it out before I heard my phone go off again. I rushed to see what he had replied with. 

_Hey, I’m just grading some of these assignments. I was just thinking of taking a break.  
 -Ben _

_I’m glad I wasn’t interrupting. Guess you have to get those papers done so you won’t have to do so much over your break.  
 -Ness _

_Say, if you’d like, we can do something this weekend? It would be a great way to kick off my spring break.  
 -Ben _

 "Ben why? I was doing so well.” I was able to text smoothly until he asked me out again. I did say I would try so I took the plunge.

_I’d love to. Just let me know when.  
 -Ness_

Not even before I had time to breathe he responds back.

_If you are up for a movie on Saturday I’d like to take you. There’s a movie I’ve been waiting to see. I now have some motivation to get this work done.  
-Ben _

I smiled, he already thought of something. I looked at the calendar, today was Wednesday. I’d have to hang in there until Saturday. Suddenly I felt more excited for the weekend.

 

* * *

 

 

When Friday came I was full of energy. I was more so ready to have my Friday evening with Alisha so that I’d get so tired I’d fall asleep and be ready for Saturday. 

"Ready to roll already? Decided to go out with that guy this weekend?" Randal asked me. I guess my eagerness to leave was obvious. 

"Well…" 

"Oh I just knew it. Wait until Em finds out. Have a good weekend. You already know you have to tell us about it Monday" he said though I wasn’t surprised.

"Sure thing Randy." 

When it was finally time to leave I went to my car so that I could meet with Alisha. I checked my phone just as I started my car. To my surprise she said Dante would be coming. 

"How unusual" pulled out the parking lot and straight to the location. Usually it would only be just me and Alisha as a form of girls night.

But I figure that bow she would refrain from saying how attractive random guys is or something. Usually it's in favor of encouraging me. Even as someone who sort of thrown the towel on dating can appreciate a nice looking guy. However whenever Dante is around he sort of pouts, he's pretty insecure sometimes.

Once I made it to the restaurant and sat with them I knew immediately Alisha did not pick this place out. "Sorry, I forgot you don't care for sea food" Dante said sheepishly.He must have caught me glaring at him.

I wanted to comment back but refrained. I guess I'll have to get fish and chips and just eat the fries.

"They don't all have fish. It's a chicken tender basket." Alisha came to my rescue.

"I'll take that."

Before long we got our orders placed and our drinks delivered and we made small chat while we were waiting. Dante was doing pretty well after his promotion and Alisha had a gotten paid really well for a big design project.

"Oh guys. Before I forget. I found out our university will be hosting an Alumni gathering in a few months" Alisha said just as our waiter brought us our food.

"What? I didn't get that," Dante remarked.

"Same." The thee of us met at the same university and we all graduated in the same year. However I fail to see how Dante and I didn't get the memo.

"I take it you no one checks their school email." She comments.

"Nope, haven't checked it since I left" Dante remarked.

"I only used it so I can use the Microsoft programs for free" I answered. So while I used it once since leaving I had not bothered to check it.

"I haven't checked either. But because I was asked to help design a new site layout for our good old university I decided to check it out" she said sounding proud.

"Wow! You was holding back on us missy. They asked you to design a new layout. That's amazing. Make something good." I encouraged. She just say a pretty big company but didn't tell us. Dante was so proud as he wrapped an arm around her affectionately.

She ate some of her shrimp Alfredo before commenting. "Thanks you two. So what do you guys think? Should we attend one of these?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes and ate some of my ketchup covered fries. "No way, they just want donations by relying on us getting nostalgic feelings. I don't know about you two but I'm not rich enough to be making those kinds of donations. Not with student loans still knocking at my door." I really liked college but no one really tells you about the payback afterwards.

"Loans and just regular bills are tough. But I'm sure they won't hold us hostage. I think it would be nice to go. You never know who we might see from our class" said Alisha.

“If you want to go then we’ll go” Dante said, of course he’d go with her. They pretty much went to every event together. 

“Eh, no promises.” Even though I already knew I probably wouldn’t go to that.

After a while we decided to call it a night, I hugged them both before going back to my own car and driving back home. Soon as I stepped into my apartment I changed into some shorts and a t-shirt and flopped onto the couch with my laptop. I knew if I got on my bed I’d fall asleep in no time.

I logged onto Tumblr, the love of my life. Sure I had other social media but I found this site to be good, its no pressure to impress your friends or family or even associates. You can make blogs to cater to your own likes and you can just reblog stuff all day.  I joined it about 3 years ago, I would always seen screen shots of crazy post on other social media. I have a dash full of all kinds of random things that I like and haven’t left this crazy site ever sense.

So far I have three blogs: On my main blog is my literary blog, reading books and watching movie adaptations and talking about it, and I talk about things I do at the library and it has gained some notice over the years. My second blog is miscellaneous, everything that wasn’t books were there, images of cool locations, food porn on the occasion, tv shows, animations, fan art and comics, and its the most popular even though its my side blog. Lastly I made a blog to give a home to all the stress and inner feelings that doesn’t get to see the light of day, a dairy of sorts and I know no one finds them or the odds of it being found were slim, thousands of people post at any given moment, my words would vanish in a heart beat.

Scrolling through tumblr leaves me with no sense of time. I just look at all the things before I either reblog or like it so I can comment later. After a while I noticed a notification, someone had sent me something. Even with the followers I’ve gained, no one has ever really interacted with me regularly so it was always a treat. It was an anon directed at my main blog.

[[Are you going to watch Rise of the Dragon? It just came out today.]]

“Oh!” I smacked my forehead, I had read the series years ago in college and I was so happy it was getting its first movie. I remembered some other dragon movie that got a movie adaptation and it was horrible so I was so worried about this. 

[[Of course, I’m not sure when.]]

Suddenly my phone was ringing, actually ringing and not the text chime I used to. I looked at the phone, perplex as to who would be calling me. It was none other then Ben.

_Ben?! Ben no, why you’d call me? I’m terrible at phone calls._

I stared at the screen, the option to slide the phone left or right to determine if I should answer or ignore. My heart kick started to life as I had no choice but to answer, he’d probably calling about our outing.

“Um, Hello?” I really hope I sounded normal.

“Ness? Hey it’s Ben, forgot about me already?” he spoke with a light chuckle. His phone voice sounded different yet similar to his normal voice I wasn’t sure how to explain it.

“Oh-No, of course not. I was just thinking about you” I just realized how that sounded. “I mean I saw this internet comic and I was thinking how this cute drawing gets passed around and I just remembered you’re an art professor” I added in hopes that didn’t sound weird.

“I was thinking about you because I was doing some light reading. I realized I haven’t heard form you in a couple of days. It is okay for you to text me if you want to” he said.

_He was thinking about me? And darn if I’m supposed to be getting to know this person I should be communicating more._

“Sorry..I’m bad at texting people. Ask any of my friends. But if you don’t mind I can text you” I apologized only because he didn’t seem mad or have some attitude about it.

“I don’t mind at all so feel free” he comments, soon I hear creaking and a thump. This thump followed by a curse was heard and I couldn’t help but laugh, he clearly dropped something.

“I so dropped my book just now and I will now have to find where I left off.” he said simply. I knew that feeling. But before I could conjure a reply he continues.

“So, I wanted to inquire about when you wanted to see the movie...ah, actually I wanted to know what you are into. I never want to bore someone I’m with.” Is it me or did he sound nervous?

"I’ll watch just about anything once, though I’m not a fan of horror even if sometimes they are more of jump scares and the fear is the anticipation...still not a fan...other then that and you’re good” she said to him.

“Oh okay I don’t think anything scary has come out recently anyway. Just wanted to make sure if there was a certain genre you didn’t like I wanted to know in advance. Also to see if you were still agreeing to this.”

“Pfft, the question is are you still agreeing to go with me?” I asked, I had no issue going with him since I made up my mind. Though I sort of pictured int he back of my mind he would cancel as this easy way of changing his mind, the real reason why I haven’t called him in a while.

“Of course I do.”

We made plans that I would meet him at the movies at 12, he seemed to know what he wanted to watch after I told him which movie genre I didn’t like, he also sounded really excited about it. As curious as I was I didn’t ask him about it, by the way he was talking, saying I’d enjoy it, it seemed like it was a surprise.

After hanging up, I felt suddenly drained from the ordeal. I hardly talk on the phone unless it was with family. I surly never had a phone call to make date plans before. After looking on my computer for a a few more minutes I decided to try and get some sleep. Who knows, maybe this date with Ben wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa goes on her first official date with Ben and is full of self doubt. Is Ben's impression strong enough to change her way of thinking by the time the date is over?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter was enjoyable. I never exactly went on a date before so ◔_◔ ...I'm just going on based on what I'd enjoy.

I woke up early Saturday morning. Too early for my liking. Even though I set my alarm for a later time my inner clock kicked in.

_And any other time I’d probably over sleep._

I didn’t verbalize my annoyance because I just know once I used the energy to talk it’s all over. I rolled over, facing away from the window in an attempt to keep the peeking light from reaching my eyes.

This time my alarm woke me up. I turned it off and proceeded to check messages. I never knew why, I wasn’t that popular off or on Internet. No message from Alisha, no surprise. I did see one from Ben earlier this morning, apparently he was looking forward to today. 

_Is he really looking forward to seeing me today? _Realizing I’d better get up to shower I stretched before sitting up. I went to the bathroom and showered, the hot water waking me up completely. After unbraiding my hair and adding the necessary moisturizer to my hair I was more or less ready to tackle my closet.__

“Ugh, Lisha would sold me for not picking out an outfit before hand.” I pulled out various tops to go with some jeans. Though I knew my friend would be so useful I admit taking my time and not getting fussed over is nice. Before long I decided on a dark pair of slim jeans and a yellow blouse. I was feeling this would be a bright kind of day.

I paraded in front of my mirror for a moment. Checking to make sure if I like this outfit. Did it show a bit too much chest? It had a bit of a low neck line. Didn’t Alisha get this for me?

“Forget it, the longer I look the greater chance it is for me to find something about my outfit I don’t like. It’s already 10:30 the traffic on a Saturday will be nuts.” Talking myself away from the mirror I grab my phone. I saw Ben was clearly up and moving around for he left me a message. I gave a quick response before heading out the door, in my focus on what to wear, I didn’t get to eat so I did grab one of my granola bars before heading out the door.

As I expected the traffic was a little rough being the weekend everyone wanted to go out and shop and things of that nature. When I arrived in the theater parking lot I paused to text him:

_Hey, I’m in the parking lot. Where should I meet you?  
-Ness_

_I’m already here. I’ll meet you at the entrance.  
-Ben_

“He’s already here? Well don’t I feel late” I felt a little bad, I had hoped I didn’t make him wait too long. I had got out the car to head to the entrance. Walking inside I had to adjust to the darker room it really was a disorientating experience.

“Ness, you’re here.” As he said, Ben was there waiting for me. He approached me, in all smiles.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. We should get tickets before the movie starts the previews, I don’t like fumbling around in the dark to find a seat” I tell him.

“You aren’t late at all, I was a little early” he said holding up the tickets. “I already got them, all we need to do is go and have a seat” he added much to my surprise.

“I didn’t mean to have you pay for my ticket” I say to him, not that I minded but still.

“Oh, I don’t mind at all. Let this guy have his feeble attempt to impress you” he said laughing at himself. “No, but really. I invited you to this remember?” he asked.

_Does he really want to impress me? I’m over thinking thing again. Let’s just enjoy it._

“Alright, thank you Ben” I tell him.

Suddenly he extend his arm to me, “Shall we get going?” he asked.

“We shall.” I linked my arm with his as we entered further into the theater. His arm was so warm and it hung loosely as if giving me the option to let go at anytime. I was standing close enough to catch the scent of his cologne, I felt weird for even smelling a person, but its not like I can help it I have to breathe.

A tug on my arm snapped me out of my thoughts. We were in front of the concession stand, the scent of buttery popcorn filled my nose.

“I wanted to ask if you wanted something before the movie. Though I think we should just catch lunch afterwards” Ben said. So he was just making sure I didn’t want anything.

“I’m good, we can wait” I replied having no problem on skipping the popcorn. “So what movie are we watching? It was hard not to look up movies playing around at this time” I asked becoming curious about which movie.

“Just wait” he said with a grin. When we arrived to our movie i was at a loss for words. It was none other than ‘Rise of the Dragon’ the movie based off the first book about a series about a boy who is a dragon who was sent to another realm for his own protection. I’ve not read the books in a while but I knew I enjoyed it when I was in high school, who didn’t like dragons?

“Oh I’ve seen previews of this movie. It looked interesting” I remarked as we entered, attempting not to show how excited I was about seeing this movie. 

“Same here, I remember reading a few books about dragons, and some of my students draw very nice mythical creatures” he answers back sounding as enthusiastic about the movie than how I felt. I saw a lot of people it was relatively new so it wasn’t a big surprise but luckily we got a decent seat. Not before long the lights went off the the commercials started, basically trying to get us to buy more popcorn and soda, and to turn off our cell phones. Soon after the previews for upcoming movies came up, we would comment, or make small noises of approval or disapproval.

When the movie finally started, my main focus was to try and pull back memories from when I was reading the book. Of course with my fuzzy memories I wasn’t sure what was true to the story or not. However the actor playing the protagonist was super attractive, the only thing keeping me from feeling guilt was the fact the actor had to be in their twenties, Hollywood pretty much always have people in their mid twenties play 16-18 year olds.

With all the main introduction and history out the way I allowed myself to quickly glance at my movie companion beside me. He had a look of concentration on his face as he watched everything that was going on. I looked away long enough to tell who were couples in the movie, I’ve seen a few rest their heads against each other, leaned in closer, or simply one of them resting their head on the other’s shoulder. It really is nice when couples do stuff together.

_I bet he’d be shocked if I tried it, well he may not mind if he likes me like everyone I’ve talk to him about claims._

I shook my head to clear the idea of doing something like that. That was too big of a risk for the sake of testing if he’s interested, this was just to probably repay me for helping him out last week. When I glanced at him again it he looked like he was looking at me, this scene wasn’t as bright, making the room darker. 

_Shit, shit, shit! He caught me didn’t he?_

I looked straight ahead from then on out, refusing to make eye contact until the movie ended. At some point I felt an arm brush against my left arm. I forget I tend to hog both armrest, the hairs brushed against me, a warm, tingling sensation felt like it radiated through my arm, crawled up my shoulder and registered to my brain that Ben had placed his arm there. My whole left arm felt tense, I wanted to move it and apologize for hogging the arm rest or just silently move it. It’s not like it was bothering me, it felt weird to suddenly touch someone. 

_Maybe this is a test? Ugh I said I’ll take a chance, that means doing something I don’t normally do._

With that in mind, I made myself relax, I kept my arm there and found myself pleased to know he didn’t shift his arm around or try to move it.

 

* * *

 

 

The ending was nice. The protagonist had just discovered his origins and has to try and master his dragon skills. The dim lights came back on as the credits rolled. People flew to the stairs, each trying to be first to go down and out the door. A few people, including Me and Ben, sat to either see if something happens after the credits or to avoid the people. When the majority of the people left we stood up and left.

“Argghh it burns” Ben exclaimed dramatically as we entered the brighter area. It was funny because I used to do that all the time. At some point I had stopped and it became a mental event, but to see someone else do it made it hard to hold in a laugh.

“There’s a laugh. So are you up for lunch right?” He asked me.

“Of course. Where is it? I’ll meet you there” I asked him.

The destination to the restaurant was the result of me riding with him because his black truck was closer.

We arrived at a sandwich shop. It was pretty big and it was somewhat like subway only you didn’t have the choice to fix your sandwich how you wanted. Me being a simple woman with simple taste, I ordered a ham and cheese combo with chips and a drink.

“Will this be together or separately?” The cashier asked, most likely because we came in together at the same time.

“Se-”

Ben comments before I can, “Together is fine.” He then places his order, some kind of sandwich with like every meat ever with cheese. After he paid we went to the chip stand to get our choice of chips and fill up our drink.

“Sorry, I don’t like cutting people off but I just could not let you pay. I invited you out, so I’ll pay. Next time you can invite me out and I’ll let you pay without complaints.” He said with a grin, flashing those dimples at me.

Normally I would get annoyed for being interrupted. I never was the outspoken one in social situations so a lot people would talk over me and interrupt me and overtime it became a pet peeve of mine. But because he had smiled, because he seemed genuine I let it go.

“Alright, just don’t let that happen again Mister. I find that to be pretty rude.” I said in a way that hopefully conveys that while I wasn’t seriously mad that I wouldn’t tolerate being interrupted.

“Of course. I was taught to never disrespect women.”

“The same person who told you about paying for your date?” I had to ask.

“Well, my father told me to respect women yet turn around and say always pay for them on dates. Well it probably worked on mom but I feel like women are capable of paying themselves if they want. So my own rule is if I invite someone, then I pay for them. So that’s why I said before, if you want to pay then invite me somewhere next time” he said as we took a seat.

I admit his comment makes sense. I always talk to women who say the guys should pay for dates and some won’t even bring money. Then I’d over hear guys complaining why they have to pay. The way I see it who ever asks should be the one to pay. Though I always say have your own money just in case. “You were raised by a smart man.” I commented at last taking a sip of my drink. I felt bad moments later because I made an assumption about his mom raising him about how to treat women, it’s never good to assume.

_But wait he didn’t mention his mom at all. Nah don’t worry about it. It’s supposed to be a light atmosphere no need to talk about families._

“What are you drinking? I saw you mix something when we were getting drinks earlier” Ben inquired while we started eating. “This sandwich, I was waiting for this all afternoon.”

I had to say he really looked happy eating his sandwich. And I was glad my sandwich was good as well. “Oh I mixed sprite and red fanta. I normally drink coke but sometimes I like to mix it up” I replied.

“Oh okay, I never tried that. So then is coke your favorite?” He asked.

I didn’t think I had someone ask me what my favorite soda. I never gave it too much thought before. I simply couldn’t pick one. “I have preferences and just depends on my mood or what I’m eating. But think it’s easier to ask which I don’t like.”

“Which is?” He asked, his brows rose slightly as if interested. “I will drink just about anything but grape or root beer.”

“You don’t like Root beer? Ness, that’s like the best drink. You haven’t lived” he said shaking his head and sighing dramatically.

I couldn’t help but shrug. “Yeah, so I’ve been told. I just don’t too much like it when when I’ve tried it, is it really that strange?”

Ben shook his head, “No way. We all have things we don’t like. I don’t like pickles” he said and I laughed at his scrunched up face of distaste. I sort of wanted to feed him pickles.

“You don’t like pickles? Ben,you haven’t lived” I teased him by repeating what he said to me back at him. And took a sip of my drink.It was easy to just laugh around him.

“Wow, I’m really glad you decided to come with me today. I thought maybe I gave you a bad impression. I interrupted a quiet dinner and hung around while pouring out information about my ex.” He said while fiddling with his napkin and I remembered he was the same way that night too. Meaning he was uncomfortable about it.

“No way, it was weird at first. But by the time the night was over I realized I did the right thing. You didn’t leave a bad impression on me at all, I had fun.” I really hoped I could reassure him. “Everyone has those times of sadness where their feeling pour out. I’m a pretty good listener” I added.

“I needed it. Thanks to you I’m not dwelling over it as much. I mean if a stranger treated me better than someone I was with for a couple years I knew I can do better. But I never thought I’d see you again. I felt so bad I never got to ask anything about you. And I see you at a library.” He said.

“I’ve worked there everyday for a while. I’ve never seen you before. Or I don’t think so. ” I said knowing there would be no way I missed someone like him.

“I usually go to a branch closer to my house. But I was curious about this library. I never thought I’d meet you. So I take it you love books.” He really shouldn’t have said that.

“I love books and reading. They are just the best way to take the mind off of everyday life. You read and get lost in the world it brings you. And you just relate to the characters and it’s a wonderful experience. Being surrounded by them is a peaceful experience” I explained and then I realized I rambled on too excitedly and I stopped talking.

“Sorry, I can be really passionate.”

“I like it, I feel the same about art and drawing. I get very happy when I see an inspired student or when I get inspired. And drawing can take the mind to another place” he answers, reminding me he was an art professor. “But don’t apologize for your passions.”

I’m glad he understood. It is one thing to expect someone to like what they do but it’s another thing to listen to people talk about the things they like, most people can’t handle it. I couldn’t help but wonder what he looked like when he was into his art.

“So have you made any art recently? I never knew anyone with real artistic talent” I say as curiosity wormed it’s way into my head.

“Oh no Ness, today I learn about you” he said as if scolding me. He stands up with his empty cup. “Want a refill?” He asked and it was when I realized my soda was flat, I was pretty much at the end anyway.

“Thank you” I open the lid of my cup and handed it to him. “Mostly sprite with a bit of Fanta please” I instructed when I decided to get the same drink as before. As he left I munched on some chips, analyzing the words he said. He seemed he really wanted to learn about me when all I really wanted was to learn about him.

“Here you go.” His voice snapped me from my thoughts to the cup he gently sat down. “I hope I did it right. When people mix drinks they have a system of how much of each drink they want to mix” he added as I took a sip

“Thanks, Ben. And don’t worry it taste fine” I tell him though I did notice I tasted more fanta than I was used to. “Can I at least ask have you done any art to submit to a company? Maybe I want to learn more about you” I was flattered he wanted to learn about me but I wanted to learn too.

“Only if you answer if you’ve tried to write books or is it a strictly read and organize sort of thing” he responded with.

“I have attempted once but I can’t seem to commit to an idea. I have one and get it down and move on. I pretty much said goodbye to the idea of publishing” I answered.

“Do you still have your drafts? I never really knew English majors while in college.” He seemed to be interested much to my surprise.

I never told anyone about my book writing plans so to have someone interested made me a bit uncomfortable. I remembered why I gave up, the idea of someone wanting to read something I wrote made me embarrassed. If he knew I had drafts he’d want to read it. “No, when I sort of realized writing wasn’t my thing I just tossed them out. Well they were files on my computer so I deleted them, no sense in having unfinished things taking my space.” I answered.

“How unfortunate. I would have liked to have read it. I bet it wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought” he said.

“You wouldn’t have liked it anyway. I know you like mystery novels” I pointed out. He was in the mystery section when we met again in the library after all.

“I’ll try reading anything once” he comments and I could agree with that. I can try anything once. I love reading different things to discover a new gem.

After a while he gets up, looking down at me. “Mind going one more place with me before I take you back?” He asked. At this point I didn’t mind. It was still relatively early day.

“Sure thing” I answered getting up as well. We both throw our food away and we leave.

 

* * *

 

 

We ended up at the park, normally I don’t find myself venturing outside unless it’s for necessary things such as work, grocery shopping, and any outings I do with Alisha.This was the big park that I overhear people say they visit, it had large open space and areas for picnics, two different play areas for children: one for younger children and one for adults, and lastly it was a walking trail.

_So he’s an outdoorsy type?_

For some reason I had expected someone who did art preferred being inside. But it was when I was on the trail I realized how green and pretty the scenery was. Shorter trees provides some shade and beautiful flowers, it was a relatively nice sight. 

_Blog worthy._

I took a picture on my phone before I realized it. His snicker snapped me out of it immediately I regretted my actions. “Yeah, it’s pretty obvious I don’t go outside to parks and stuff that often.”

“It’s beautiful, I tend to draw stuff around here with different lighting. Part of the reason why I go out” he answered and that suddenly make sense, go outside for inspiration.

“It is, I like like having pictures of things I think look nice” I answered.

“Glad you like the scenery, it’s why I wanted you to come…that and” he pauses and points away from the path we are on and there was an ice cream stand. “They have good ice cream. Sometimes I just sit on the bench with ice cream to clear my head.”

“Ice cream is a weakness, shall we get some?” I asked him. I pulled out money from my back pocket, the money i would have used to pay for my lunch. “This time I’m offering you” I added, making light of the conversation we had at lunch.

“You got me this time Ness” Ben said with a smile as we headed over the ice cream stand of course there were children of various ages already there. I stared at the menu, it had various Popsicles and ice cream sandwiches, but I really just wanted a simple ice cream cone, I was happy they had it.

“What can I get for you two?” The sound of the jolly older man jolted my attention, making me realize that we were finally next. “I’d like  single scoop of chocolate ice cream cone.” I said to him.

“I’d like an ice cream bar.” Ben chimes in moments later. It didn’t take long for him to hand him a relatively decent sized wrapper containing the ice cream bar and I got a pretty good amount of ice cream on my cone. Paying an stuffing the change into my back pocket, the two of us head back to the path we were walking down.

The sound of a crunch made me glance to Ben, who had already taken the bite of the chocolate covered ice cream. “Oh, yes, just what I am craving for” he leans his head back to emphasize how good the ice cream was.

“I Agree” I replied as I shaved the ice cream off the edges of the cone to avoid it from dripping, trying to not pay too close attention to the noise he made.

_It was sort of like a groan. Why was that attractive he was eating ice cream._

This was unlike me, I felt a little guilty for thinking that especially as apprehensive as I was about even going on this date.

“Hey watch out,” I suddenly felt my right arm being tugged, I looked up just in time to realize there was a biker rolling towards us, Ben had pulled me towards him so I wouldn’t get hit. I been so busy thinking about other things I didn’t realize there was a biker.

“Thanks Ben, saved me there” I said to him.

“Of course, I almost didn’t notice it myself” his hand still lingered on my arm before letting me go. “There’s a bench up ahead, we can sit and eat, I’m never good with walking and eating” he suggests moments afterwards which was fine with me. I didn’t realize how much my feet hurt until I sat on the bench.

“This was a pretty peaceful day, thank for asking me out” I say to him as he sat down beside me.

“Best weekend I’ve had for a long time. I’m really glad you came. I was starting to think maybe I was bothering you by trying.” He said.

“No, you weren’t bothering me. I’m just not very good with dealing with people asking me out. I’m not big on the dating thing” I quickly said, realizing my earlier actions of not responding to him weeks after that initial night could have been the indicator of his reasoning. I know if i took the plunge like that and never hear from them again I’d think the same.

“I don’t see it,” Ben continues to eat his  ice cream but then he turns to me. “But then again I guess that’s okay, it just means your experiences with me are new” he sounded genuinely pleased.

We finished our treats with a comfortable silence between us. Only the occasional gentle crunch of our deserts, and the sound of people in the distant background was our companion. 

Ok, I learned he likes dragons, though who wouldn’t?

_I learned he hates pickles._

_I learned he is a meat eater, least on sandwiches._

_I learned he enjoys walks in he park where he likes to get inspiration for art._

_I learned he love ice cream sandwiches._

I couldn’t help but go over the things I learned about him today even though he insist on not talking about him. On impulse I looked towards him only to find him already looking at me. 

“Oops, sorry if I was staring out into space, I tend to do that from time to time” I said quickly realizing I must have zoned out and he took notice.

“Its okay, you looked so focused, yet relaxed.What were you thinking about?” he asked as he stood up to stretch, the Popsicle stick still in his hand. 

“Oh, nothing really.” I said stretching out my legs while leaning back against the bench.

“Well, I think it’s time we left right?” he asked and I realize that while it was still a significant amount of sun that it was getting late.

“Yes, I do believe so” I say to him standing up so we could walk back to where Ben parked his car. When we got back to the movie theater parking lot I wasn’t surprised he drove around until I got to my car.

“Thanks again Ben, I had fun” I said to him.

“Of course, I look forward to seeing you more often” he answered me with a smile, I swear his dimples would be the end of me.

I was all smiles when I got back to my car. A nice, respectable, attractive  guy seems to genuinely like spending time with me. As I drove home in silence, I think I like spending time with him too.

“Lisha will get a kick out of it too.” I say, recalling I had to tell her about today once I get home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also if you all have a tumblr check out the-fiction-portal, updates will be posted there first so if you want to see my work before everyone else on Ao3 I recommend you keeping tabs there.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy. Feedback would be appreciated.


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